Charles James: Beyond Fashion at The Met

Concept design for Charles James: Beyond Fashion, the 2014 Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute's Spring Fashion show. The concept for the exhibit pushed the limits of looking at fashion in the way that Charles James, the mid-century couturier approached fashion with the hand and eye of an architect. Sixty-five of Jame's designs spanned three galleries, merging the formal richness of his finish works with the intense analytics of each garment's underlying structure, tectonics and physical or social critique. James defied the notions of the female form, adopted the everyday practicalities of dressing and influenced designers for decades. The concept was developed with a small team at Diller Scofidio + Renfro, where use of technology would ultimately reveal the true craft of this great sculptor. The challenge become how to choreograph the experience of both visitor and piece to understand each garment's layered story.
[2013-2014] diller scofidio + renfro